The Pope County Election Commission approved new zoning lines for the Russellville School District, splitting the district into five zones for the upcoming September election.

As of the Sept. 18 school board election, the board will be split between five members representing one of the newly-established zones, and two at-large members. In previous years, all positions on the Russellville school board were at-large.

“We’ll have five board members who live in five different zones, and two board members who live in the same zone as another member,” Russellville Superintendent Randall Williams said. “Anyone can run for the at-large positions.”

The zones were drawn by demographer Robert Middleton in compliance with Arkansas state statute 6-13-631, which states a district must “divide each school district having a 10 percent or greater minority population into single-member zones,” a population increase found in the 2010 census.

Of the school district’s 37,630 residents, 31,045 — or 82.5 percent — of the population is white. Hispanics make up 14.09 percent of the population with 5,302, and African-Americans make up 4.29 percent with 1,614. Asians, Pacific Islanders and Native Americans make up the remaining 1.93 percent, according to information provided by the Election Commission.

“The goal of that is to have better representation,” board member Morgan Barrett said. “The purpose of redistricting is to ensure the populations are evenly distributed amongst the districts.”

The Russellville School District approved the zones, pending the Election Commission’s approval, on March 13. Upon election, the members will draw lots to determine the length of their terms. No more than two terms will expire each year after this year’s election, Williams said.

Pope County Clerk Laura McGuire said voters will be informed of the school zone in which they’re living after the May primary elections. If there are run-offs, voters will be informed afterward, she said.

In other business, election commissioners want to make its polling locations more handicap-accessible, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Election coordinator Sherry Polsgrove said she and commissioner Edwin Shinn recently researched options to designate handicapped parking spaces in front of the Election Headquarters and other polling locations, as well as the possibility of adding wheelchair-accessible ramps to accommodate disabled voters.

Polsgrove said one option she researched was using parking cones to designate the spaces. She added there’s grant money through the Secretary of State’s office that may be available to be used toward obtaining handicapped parking indicators.

The commission agreed to visit each polling location to determine what amenities are needed.

McGuire reported having sent 31,924 voter registration cards to voters, with updated polling locations and township names. Of that, 4,408 were returned as undeliverable.

“Every registered voter should have received a new card,” she said.

McGuire said any registered voter who hasn’t received a new card should contact the County Clerk’s office.